Major Themes of IFA: Hybrids, Ultrabooks™, and Windows 8

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IFA, the world’s largest consumer electronics convention right after CES, closed this past week having debuted a whole host of mouthwatering technology. From hybrid tablets to gigantic television sets to Android cameras, there was something for everyone no matter what your technology tastes might be. There were a lot of great technology blogs that did a fantastic job of getting the nitty-gritty from every new release, and using that river of news, we’re going to take a look at devices that personified the main themes that emerged from IFA: Windows 8 builds, hybrids, and a whole plethora of touch-enabled devices, especially Ultrabooks.

Toshiba Satellite u920T: A Windows 8-based tablet with a slide-out keyboard. This looks pretty slick, offering a sliding keyboard attachment rather than a hinge. You can make this look like a tablet with the screen right up against the keyboard, or you can for a more traditional Ultrabook/notebook feel by setting the screen into a standing position. Specs announced include Intel Core i5 processor, Intel HD 4000 graphics, 128GB SSD, 2 USB ports, and all of this inside a slim three pound package. This is due to ship on October 26; no pricing details as yet. You can get more information here: Toshiba Satellite u920T

Dell XPS Duo 12: Think of “Wheel of Fortune” and you’ve got the general gist of the swivel design of this hybrid Windows RT tablet. Instead of a slider like the Toshiba Satellite, we’ve got a frame in which the screen can be flipped to become either a tablet or laptop depending on what you want. Personally, while I like the promise of a 20 hour battery life, I think the framework design won’t stand up to day-to-day use. You can read more about this hybrid here: Dell XPS Duo 12

Sony’s Vaio 11 Duo is a convertible Windows 8 tablet with Ultrabook components, and comes with a stylus and pressure-sensitive digitizer for ease of drawing (or whatever else you might want to do with it). More information available here: Sony Vaio 11 Duo

Samsung Series 5 Ultra comes with all the bells and whistles we want from an Ultrabook, including touch, but looks like it might be a bit easier on the pocketbook ($799 for a Core i3 processor, or $849 for a Core i5). You can find more information about this device here: Samsung Series 5 Ulta

HP Spectre XT Touchsmart: Big (1920x1080) display, ahem, touchscreen display on this Ultrabook. This device comes with more ports than most other Ultrabooks out there, making it a good choice for power users. You can find more information about this device here: HP Spectre XT Touchsmart

Acer Aspire M3 Touch and V5 Touch: A two-pack with different size screens (M3 with 15.6, V5 clocks in at 14-15 inch). Larger touchpads and Ivy Bridge processor power included. Read more about these devices here: Acer Aspire M3 Touch and V5 Touch

Lenovo IdeaPad U510: 15 inches and running Windows 8, this somewhat larger (well, larger than other Ultrabooks, which isn’t really saying much!) model potentially has enough room for an optionalBlu-Ray player. Ivy Bridge components inside, and the base model starts at a relatively budget-conscious price of $679. You can read more about this model here: Lenovo IdeaPad U510

if you were lucky enough to attend IFA, what was your favorite part of the show? What trend or product did you particularly like (or dislike)? Was there something that really made you go “wow!”? Share with us in the comments.